Impact of Basalt Rock Powder on Ryegrass Growth and Nutrition on Sandy and Loamy Acid Soils
Enhanced weathering of silicate rocks in agriculture is an option for atmospheric CO2 removal and fertility improvement. The objective of our work is to characterise some of the agricultural consequences of a basaltic powder amendment on soil-crop systems. Two doses of basalt (80 and 160 t ha−1) were applied to two types of slightly acid soils (sandy or silty clayey), derived from long-term trials at Bordeaux (INRAE, France) and Rothamsted Research (England), respectively. For each soil, half of the pots were planted with ryegrass; the other half were left bare. Thus, the experiment had twelve treatments with four replications per treatment. Soil pH increased with the addition of basalt (+0.8 unit), with a 5% equivalence of that of reactive chalk. The basalt contained macro- and micronutrients. Some cations extractable in the basalt before being mixed to the soil became more extractable with increased weathering, independent of plant cover. Plant uptake generally increased for macronutrients and decreased for micronutrients, due to increased stock (macro) and reduced availability (micronutrients and P), related to pH increases. K supplied in the basalt was responsible for a significant increase in plant yield on the sandy soil, linked to an average basalt K utilisation efficiency of 33%. Our general conclusion is that rock dust applications have to be re-evaluated at each site with differing soil characteristics.

Share this

Research theme(s)
Environmental impacts Evidence base
GGR Method(s)
Enhanced rock weathering
Publication type
Article
Author(s)
Charles Desmalles, Lionel Jordan-Meille, Javier Hernandez , Cathy L. Thomas, Sarah Dunham, Feifei Deng, Steve P. McGrath and Stephan M. Haefele
Publication date
July 25, 2025
Publisher
Agronomy
CO₂RE - The Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.